It is said that change is good. One community member doesn’t
find our changes to the comics page all that funny.
”
You want to improve the paper, but what happened to Beetle
Bailey and columnist Debbie Farmer? Those were our favorites.
Please bring them back. Thanks.
”
It is said that change is good. One community member doesn’t find our changes to the comics page all that funny.
“You want to improve the paper, but what happened to Beetle Bailey and columnist Debbie Farmer? Those were our favorites. Please bring them back. Thanks.”
The Red Phone hates to deliver bad news, but unfortunately for some, the lazy yet lovable Beetle Bailey will no longer be found in The Dispatch. The Dispatch is re-vamping the comics page in connection with the redesign set for next week, and we have decided to try more modern comics. However we do appreciate and consider community input.
Take note that you can still find the amusing column by Debbie Farmer each and every Monday in The Dispatch. Last week, due to an e-mail glitch, her column didn’t come through and therefore, we were unable to run it. If you’re a fan of hers, keep an eye out every Monday for future columns.
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Money was on the mind of one Red Phone caller who was more than a little hot under the collar, asking about teacher salaries and raises, what they received and what they didn’t.
“I’d like to say cheers to Tom Mulhern for his article, ‘Teaching is a job – do it right – now.’ I lived in Gilroy my whole life, and I’m sick of teachers saying they’re not paid enough. Look at their Web site, and you’ll see that the California teacher is the highest paid in the nation. If that’s true, why do our students rank 48th?
Last year, the teachers got a 6 percent raise. Do you know what the bus drivers got or the maintenance people or the food service workers? A big nothing.
Do you know what those other people had to do? They had to pay for the increase out of their own pocket. This isn’t right. And they don’t make anywhere near $24 and hour.
I say to teachers, quit bellyaching, do your job and educate our kids. If you don’t think you’re paid enough, get a real job. And we’ll see how far that money will go.”
The Red Phone wonders how much time this caller has spent in front of a classroom with 20 to 30 9-year-olds, but back to the business at hand.
Linda Piceno, Gilroy Unified School District’s Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, clarified.
“The teachers did not get a 6 percent salary increase (last year). What they did get is a 3 percent salary increase for 2002-2003. They got a 3 percent (increase), as well as health and welfare benefits … paid for, and that was equal to about 2.5 percent. So, total compensation for 02-03 was 5.5 percent, roughly.”
Last school year, teachers didn’t get a raise, but they did get their benefits covered, which is more than other district employees got. That was about a 2 percent compensation increase.
No, bus drivers and others didn’t get a raise, and yes, they are paying some of their own benefits, and the district has said it wants to fix that. Somehow.
And, yes, California teachers do make more than their counterparts across the states, with an average salary of $55,693 a year.
—
As many of our loyal readers are aware of, The Dispatch will begin it’s new morning delivery beginning next week. Though we feel most will take to the change well, there are a few out there who may need some time to adjust to the new delivery time.
“Hi Red Phone. I’m looking at your house ad on page 12 of Tuesday’s Dispatch saying that you can teach an old dog new tricks. Well, I’m really concerned because my dog Duke, who’s about a 7- or 8-year-old dog, prances down 24 steps every afternoon when he sees that blue car come up the street, picks up my newspaper, and then prances right back up those 24 steps and brings me my paper. I’m really concerned about this because he’s not up at 5:30 in the morning. So the tale will be told here whether we really can teach an old dog new tricks. Anyway, good luck with your new publication time.”
We here at the Red Phone are confident that Duke will learn to drag himself sleepy-eyed from his bed each morning to pick up his daily copy of The Dispatch. Along with the change in delivery time will come some new and exciting design changes that we’re sure Duke, as well as all of our readers, will be glad to see and will appreciate. And once he sees the improvements, he’ll be back to prancing up and down those steps in no time.
